Separating Sensible and Binge Drinking on College Campuses

The primary long-term study of American college binge drinking, conducted since 1993 by Henry Wechsler, is called the Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study.

The study is notable for its failure. At one point, confident of factors that could be brought to bear on college drinking, Wechsler and his colleagues created and studied campus-wide interventions to reduce bingeing. The results of the campus interventions? A small increase in abstinence was offset by increases in binge drinking—particularly intense binge drinking.

The cause of this fiasco is obvious: Wechsler's program and the campus interventions failed to distinguish between drinking at all and binge drinking.

Over the several decades of the Harvard study's existence, no one believes college binge drinking has been capped. Thus, writing this month about college drinking, New York Times health writer Jan Brody loaded the first half of her article with a depressing litany of statistics: "Binge drinking [is] a drinking pattern adopted by 44 percent of college students."

The consequences:

Car crashes and other accidental injuries, sexual assaults, fights, community violence, academic failure and deaths from an overdose of alcohol are among the consequences…

Every year, tens of thousands of college students wind up in emergency rooms suffering from the life-threatening effects of alcohol intoxication. And every year, about a dozen students, including some of the best and brightest and most athletically talented, die from acute alcohol poisoning. In one study of students who suffered alcohol-related injuries, 21 percent reported consuming eight or more drinks in a row.

That this behavior is so obviously related to binge drinking (which "about half of college binge drinkers arrive on campus having engaged in similar behavior in high school") has almost dawned on Wechsler, Brody, and other American-style blue noses.

Almost, but not quite. Referring to the recent Amethyst Initiative, in which 100+ university presidents recommended lowering the drinking age to 18 so that young people can be socialized into sensible drinking, Brody obligatorily sniffs: "But opponents say there is no hard evidence for this belief and a better plan would be to change the drinking culture on campus."

And Wechsler et al. are increasingly sounding like harm reductionists, without admitting it: "Yet drinking, and in particular drinking to get drunk, remains a major health and social problem on campuses." (italics added)

As a result, Wechsler and colleagues have begun studying campus settings which encourage heavy drinking: "The study found that the sites of heaviest drinking by college students were off-campus bars and parties held off-campus and at fraternity and sorority houses." But, blinkered by their zero-tolerance blinders, this quickly segues into global recommendations such as "state alcohol-control policies like keg registration and laws restricting happy hours, open containers in public, beer sold in pitchers and billboards and other types of alcohol advertising."

Wechsler and Brody are incapable of seeing that such measures are stop-gap and rearguard—that instead of trying to prevent drinking at sites "that sell alcohol in large containers, fishbowls and pitchers… special promotions: women's nights where the women can drink free; 25-cent beers; two drinks for the price of one; and gut-busters, where people can drink all they want for one price until they have to go to the bathroom," it would be better to create sensible drinking settings on campus—which would be possible with an 18-year-old drinking age.

For example, a campus eatery could serve beer and wine to students with meals, in a well-lit environment that permitted active conversations and low-key nighttime entertainments (e.g., live acoustic music), involving people of all ages (faculty, staff, families, undergraduate and graduate students). It is settings like these in which people not only drink sensibly, they learn lifetime habits of sensible drinking.

Of course, as I make clear in Addiction-Proof Your Child, avoiding excess and addiction involves more than tutoring people on substance use, it entails deeper values and purposes in life: Young people who want to accomplish something and who believe they are capable of doing so will avoid self-destructive excesses of all kinds.

As a young person, I can agree with the findings. In our society we are not introduced to drinking. Personally, I never saw the big draw into drinking in high school. I think because it was never a big deal to me. My parents always let me have a sip of their drinks as I was growing up (literally, a sip). I knew what it tasted like and that my family did it without getting drunk. It wasn't a forbidden fruit, so to say. Being that I'm 25 now, I can say that while I did have some 'wild' nights in college, I didn't have the same draw to go out just to get drunk. A few drinks is fine for me. I think that being introduced to alcohol under supervised circumstances would make a difference, although not be a solution.

I am curious if there have been studies done about drinking in countries where the drinking age is 18. I don't remember much binge drinking when I was studying in Manitoba, Canada. What about in Germany or France where beer and wine are introduced to children at a young age?

I think it starts at home with parents educating their children about healthy drinking patterns.

Teens, I believe will always test the limits a few times and this includes binge drinking but whether they continue with this behavior may very well be rooted in the way society views them. I don't believe I know a single person who hasn't had at least 1 or 2 incidents of getting rip roaring drunk, puking, and passing out. Almost all of us have at a young age crouched over the toilet and prayed that if we can just make it through this we'll never drink agian. We are sincere in our sickness but for the most part take away the nausea and there too goes the resolve to always drink responsibly. That resolve comes from someplace else.

I think, sensible drinking comes from stuff that parents and society do that make a kid feel worthy of a good life free from alcohol dependence, mainly the expecatation that it's possible and likely for them to learn moderation. It may therefore be the sense of maturity that comes from being allowed to drink that promotes better choices rather than exposure to the alcohol itself. If society tells me I can't handle my liquor than where's my motivation to incooperate alcohol in responsible ways? The self-fufilling prophecy piggybacks on teenage experiementation with sometimes deadly outcomes.

Submitted by KristyF@ Stonehill College on September 21, 2008 - 8:38pm

I feel that with an introduction to the college environment and the first time really being away from home students tend to go overboard. And also like Becky stated, youth love to test the limits. Unfortunately it seems to be the only way we as a youth can learn to drink sensibly. However, I feel that there is another way around the problem of binge drinking on college campuses.
The sad truth is “where there is a will there is a way.” Colleges and states can put up as many laws as they please, but the reality is that kids will find a way to get drunk. The study stated in this article found that most of the heavy drinking is done off campus at bars or house parties. The school may set their limits of drinks a student can have on campus, but they cannot do so off-campus. It is up to the police to be in charge here and if the individuals are not disturbing anyone then there isn’t much that can be done. The greatest and worse thing that the United States has may be the Bill of Rights. The laws protect the rights of citizens. It protects citizens from being illegally searched. Police must either smell or see something in order to act in most instances. Therefore, if students are smart about hiding their drinking and being quiet at parties, then they will be able to binge drink.
A way around the problem may be to lower the drinker age back to 18. If parents teach their kids the appropriate way to drink and how to do so in moderation it may not be as exciting when one hits college or drinking age. Many parents are so strict in high school that their children go crazy once they have the “freedom” of the college setting. Foreign students often look at the Americans as if they are crazy because in many European countries it is frowned upon to make a drunken fool of yourself. It is not as exciting to the residents of other countries because they have always had the ability to drink. To put it this way, when one hits an age or a time in their life when it is easy to drink, such as a college setting, they get so excited that they don’t know how to handle it; they go overboard. To make a comparison, when one gets their license, all they want to do is drive all the time. Well when one can drink more easily, they want to get it all in. If alcohol is introduced gradually throughout a childhood, then the person knows how to drink in moderation and may not be so excited about it. Kids love to test the unknown and find out their limits. They love taking risks and doing what they shouldn’t. It is part of growing up.
Other factors that contribute to binge drinking may be the status, the culture of alcohol on campus, peer pressure and stress from academics. Many students are pushed by their peers to drink for the sole purpose to get wasted. On the male side, it is frowned upon to be a “light weight.” The man who drinks 20 beers in a night instead of just 15 is respected more. This is the sad culture of a college campus. Take away the factors that contribute to drinking and perhaps the dangers of binge drinking will decrease.
Alcohol is often advertised so much to the young age group that it is almost impossible to turn it down. Like the article said, happy hours, cheap drinks, one price for a night of drinking, etc., all add to more and more drinking. Unfortunately the alcohol business is a big money business and they survive through the younger population’s stupidity of not knowing when to stop. I feel that if the drinking age is reduced and it is gradually introduced that binge drinking will be reduced on college campuses. Educating the younger population on the dangers of alcohol and eliminating the pressure put on students to drink more will help save lives. Stress management workshops may also help and alternate activities on campus could be another solution. Bottom line is kids will always drink, but it is important that they are taught to control it.

I feel that with an introduction to the college environment and the first time really being away from home students tend to go overboard. And also like Becky stated, youth love to test the limits. Unfortunately it seems to be the only way we as a youth can learn to drink sensibly.Drug Intervention

I feel that with an introduction to the college environment and the first time really being away from home students tend to go overboard. And also like Becky stated, youth love to test the limits.
RockyDrug Intervention

Alcohol is often advertised so much to the young age group that it is almost impossible to turn it down. Like the article said, happy hours, cheap drinks, one price for a night of drinking, etc., all add to more and more drinking. That is why so hard to stop too much drinking.

This topic, binge drinking, has interested me for some time now and I think that I would love to do my honours thesis on it. It's unfortunate because so many parents are naive in believing that the law will protect their children from underage drinking, but the fact remains that a majority of children and teens will drink underage. A teen's first experience with alcohol is usually with their friends who are inexperienced with drinking. This creates the wrong mindset about the use of alcohol; teens think that they must drink to get drunk. Education is the key. We need to change teen's conception of drinking and teach them appropriate drinking habits.